Bonaparte Lake Campground
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 30 mi
- Right now
- OpenListed open; its database flags it not open
- A night
- $20–$40Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 33All of them booked ahead
- Season
- May 15 – October 17Open May 15 through October 17
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Bonaparte Lake Campground is located on the southern edge of Bonaparte Lake east of Tonasket, WA, in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. The setting of the campground is in a mixed ponderosa pine and Douglas fir conifer forest at the base of Bonaparte Mountain. This campground has a group site, multiple family and individual campsites available. Keep reading
Recreation
Fishing is a popular activity on the lake, with anglers enjoying boat fishing for rainbow, brook, and cutthroat trout as well as using the accessible fishing dock. A boat launch area is available in the campground. Kayaking, canoeing, and swimming can also be enjoyed. Hiking around the lake or up the Pipsissewa Trail, which is accessed from the southern loop, are popular activities. Taking a bike ride on the surrounding roads is also available.
Facilities
The sites are equipped with picnic tables and campfire grills. All sites can accommodate tents and some sites feature tent pads. The group site is equipped with drinking water, picnic tables, campfire grills, a community fire pit, RV/Camper parking and room for tent sites. A group shelter is available at the site. Drinking water, vault and flush toilets are also available in the campground. Access to the lake and boat launch are within walking distance.
Natural Features
Bonaparte Lake's elevation is at 3,600 feet and is home to multiple waterfowl species including the rare northern loon. Mule deer, elk, moose, and the occasional black bear can be sighted in the area. Bonaparte, Spur, and Cumberland Mountains surround the lake.
Nearby Attractions
Pipsissewa Trail to Pipsissewa Point, which overlooks Bonaparte Lake, is a two mile hike from the campground. Continuing from there onto the South Side trail #308 for five miles will take you to the Bonaparte Mountain Fire Lookout. Lost Lake Campground is approximately 10 miles away on the 33 road. Beaver Lake and Beth Lake Campgrounds are approximately seven miles away on the 32 road. Within 10 miles visitors can explore accessible and interpretive trails, geologic attractions, scenic overlooks, and scenic drives.
What the agency tells you
Electric hookups are not available
Single and double non-reservable sites are also available on a first-come, first-served basis in the campground
Accessible fishing dock is available
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 33 · 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 48 ft
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…at the site. Drinking water, vault and flush toilets are also available in the campground. Access to the…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…pads. The group site is equipped with drinking water, picnic tables, campfire grills, a community fire…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Biking
- Birding
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Kayaking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 22nd darkest of 400 in WA
- Bortle 2
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 16:44 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $20–$40 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:44 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
33 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 33 mapped sitesAll 33 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 33 of the 33 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Bonaparte Lake | 01 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 94 ft | 84 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 02 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 71 ft | 113 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 03 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 71 ft | 103 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 04 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 55 ft | 220 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 05 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 87 ft | 287 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 06 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 107 ft | 232 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 07 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 93 ft | 221 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 08 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 77 ft | 230 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 09 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 58 ft | 195 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 10 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 56 ft | 154 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 11 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 56 ft | 101 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 12 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 65 ft | 106 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 13 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 65 ft | 115 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 14 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 53 ft | 86 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 15 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 23 ft | 96 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 16 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 23 ft | 73 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 17 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 32 ft | 159 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 18 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 59 ft | 113 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 19 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 32 ft | 169 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 20 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 58 ft | 162 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 21 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 58 ft | 144 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 22 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 55 ft | 165 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 23 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 60 ft | 159 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Bonaparte Lake | 31 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 249 ft | under 10 ft | $20–$40 | |
| Main Campground road | Group | group standard area nonelectric | 35 ft | yes | 392 ft | 226 ft | $125 |
| South Loop | 024 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 86 ft | 89 ft | $20–$40 | |
| South Loop | 025 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 70 ft | 101 ft | $20–$40 | |
| South Loop | 026 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 70 ft | 168 ft | $20–$40 | |
| South Loop | 027 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 97 ft | 112 ft | $20–$40 | |
| South Loop | 028A | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 56 ft | 152 ftBonaparte Creek | $20–$40 | |
| South Loop | 028B | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 56 ft | 135 ftBonaparte Creek | $20–$40 | |
| South Loop | 029 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 101 ft | 134 ft | $20–$40 | |
| South Loop | 030 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 101 ft | 65 ft | $20–$40 |
25 of 33 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Lost Lake Group UnitOkanogan National Forest · 4.2 miLost Lake Campground (WA)Okanogan National Forest · 4.2 mi
Beth Lake CampgroundOkanogan National Forest · 5.6 mi
Swan Lake KitchenColville National Forest · 22 mi
Ferry Lake CampgroundColville National Forest · 22 miSwan Lake CampgroundColville National Forest · 22 miFrom Tonasket, Washington, take State Route 20 East for 24 miles. Turn left onto the Bonaparte Recreation Area turnoff (Okanogan County Road 4953). Continue on Okanogan County Road #4953 for approximately 6 miles to the Bonaparte Lake Campground entrance on the left hand side of the road.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Republic, WA
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Bonaparte Lake Campground is in Washington’s 4th congressional district. Its representative, Dan Newhouse (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →